Curling iron



I B. A. DODD CURLING IRON April 20, 1937.

Filed March 13, 1955 INVENTOR" Am 0x41 00602 A TTORNE Y Patented Apr. 20, 1937 UNITED STATES PATET OFFICE CURLING IRON Bertha A. Dodd, Danville, Va.

Application March 13, 1935, Serial No. 10,928

" 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in curling irons, and has special reference to curling irons of that type comprising male and female iron members carried by pivotally connected operating handles, between which iron members a lock of hair to be curled is clamped and the lock then wound one or more times around. the curling members to impart the desired curl to the lock.

The female members of such irons are usually of channeled form or U-shaped in cross-section and the male member, as ordinarily constructed, is in the form of a bar of iron of circular crosssection adapted to fit within the channel of the female member and clamp the lock of hair therein. Heretofore, the channeled female member has ordinarily been formed of comparatively thin imperforate metal. I have found that two material objections to the use of curling irons of this type exist. One of these is that, as the iron members unduly hold the heat between the clamped portions of the hair, and do not permit ventilation of the hair to allow uniform heating, discoloration of all light shades of hair due to this lack of ventilation and nonuniform heating action is liable to occur. I have also found that the use of a thin metal channeled female member results in the too acute bending of the hair at the clamped end of the lock and the first winding of the hair about the iron, frequently resulting in the breaking of the hair at this point.

One object of my invention is to provide a curling iron which is free from these objections and which affords ventilation of the clamped portion of the hair during the curling action, whereby uniform heating of the hair will be secured and discoloration prevented.

A further object of the invention is to provide a curling iron having a female member of novel construction and of such construction that the hair may be clamped and. wound as desired about the iron without the formation of sharp bends in the hair and without causing liability of the hair to break.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a curling iron which is simple of construction, allows better wrist manipulation of the hair by the operator, and by which a more natural and lasting hair wave or curl may be produced.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a curling iron embodying my invention, showing the male and female tong members in open position.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the iron.

Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sections on the line 33 of Fig. 2 showing steps in the use of the iron in making a curl or wave in a lock of hair.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing an ordinary type of curling iron having the objections which my invention is designed to avoid.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, I designates my improved curling iron, which comprises a pair of male and female tongs or members 2 and 3 which are respectively carried by operating handles t and 5 and pivotally connected in the usual manner, as at 6, for hair clamping and releasing actions.

The male tong or iron member 2 may be of any suitable shape. It is herein shown in the form of a solid metal rod or bar of circular crosssection and of a length equal to the female member 3. The female member 3, as shown, is of channeled form or U-shaped in cross-section and adapted to receive the member 2, whereby a lock of hair may be clamped between the two members and then wound about them or otherwise manipulated for the production of a curl or wave.

In accordance with my invention, the female member 3 is provided throughout its length with rows of perforations l, the purpose of which is to allow ventilation of a clamped lock of hair so that any excessive moisture in the hair may be allowed to escape and the clamped portion of the lock sufficiently ventilated as to secure a substantially uniform heating of the hair during the curling treatment. By this means the discoloration of light shades of hair, which commonly ocours with unventilated irons, is prevented and the production of a better and more natural and lasting curve or wave secured. I also make the member 3 of novel form in cross-section, that is to say, I so form the member 3 and vary its crosssectional thickness as to make one of its longitudinal edges 8 comparatively thick and its other longitudinal edge 9 relatively thinner, which may be produced in any suitable manner. In the present construction, the result is secured by making the member 3 of tapering formation between its thick edge 8 and its thin edge 9, or of making it of progressively decreasing cross-sectional thickness between such respective edges.

As heretofore pointed out, an objection to ordinary curling irons is that, as the channeled memher is of uniform thickness and comparatively thin, both longitudinal edges of the iron are of the same degree of reduced thickness and so sharp as to produce acute angles in the wound hair under which the hair is liable to break. This is particularly the case at the point where the free portion of the hair look at its angle of intersection with its clamped portion is bent about one of the longitudinal edges of the channel in forming the first winding, at which point the hair, because of this acute bend, is very liable to break. I overcome this objection by making the member 4 of the cross-sectional form disclosed. g g y Figs. 3 and 4, for example, show the iron as in use for forming a curve or wave, from which'it will be noted that the free end It) of the lock of hair H, as shown in Fig. 3, is held stretched by means of a comb l2 between the opened iron members and the iron then given a half turn in the direction of the arrow to invert the iron, as shown in Fig. 4, and the iron closed to clamp the hair between the members 2 and 3, whereby the desired curl or wave is formed. In this operation 5 the thickened edge 8 is disposed to engage the hair at the angle formed between the clamped portion and body of the look. In an ordinary construction of iron, where the hair at the angle of the bend passes around the edge 811:, as shown in Fig. 5, an acute bend is produced with the objections stated. By, however, making the edge 8 comparatively thick a broader or more obtuse form of bend is produced at this point and the hair reinforced and protected by the thickened edge 8 against breakage. The edge 6 is made of less thickness than the edge 8 because the use of athickened edge at this point is undesirable and unnecessary, inasmuch as the hair simply passes over and is not wound about this edge 9.

Fig. 5 shows in cross-section acurling iron of ordinary type having the disadvantages which my iron is designed to overcome. This conventional type of iron comprises the male and female members 211, 3a, the female member being imperforate and being of greatest thickness at its center and having its edges 8a and 9m relatively thin and sharp so that at the point of first bend of the hair over the edge 8aa very acute bend is produced liable to result in the hair being broken during the curling action.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawing, the construction, mode of operation and advantages of my improved curling iron will be readily understood and it will be seen that by the construction described the stated objections to prior types of -irons are prevented and the advantages set forth secured in a very simple and effective manner. Besides preventing overheating of the cell structures of the hair and breakage of the hair during curling, the iron structure permits better wrist manipulation of 'the iron and hair by the operator and the crosssectional form of the iron produces a more natural andlasting wave than other types of hand irons. The iron may be used on either wet or dry hair and for setting permanently waved or straight hair.

I claim:-.

A curling iron comprising a male member and a female member, the female member being of channeled form and cros's-sectionally of maximum thickness at one of its longitudinal edges, and having said edges arcuately rounded in a transverse direction, and cross-sectionally of minimum thickness at its opposite longitudinal edge andhaving said edge tapering to'a degree of attenuation rendering it of materially less thickness than the thick rounded edge, the inner face of the female member forming the channel extending throughout between said edges on the true are of a circle and the outer face of the female memberextending eccentric to the arc of curvature of said inner face so that the crosssectional thickness of said member uniformly and progressively diminishes between said thick and thin edges, the male member having a surface conforming identically to the curvature of and adapted to snugly fit within the channel of the female member.

' BERTHA A. DODD. 

